Excavator-shield.



minim. W. MURPHY, or LosA eELEs, oAnIFon-NIA, ASSIG-NOR 0F ONE-Harem FRANK B. CONNELLY, or BIL 'INes,

Mondrian.

nxcAvaron-snrntn. j

To all whom it may. concern:

' Be it known that I, DANIEL W. .MU'RPHY, a citizen of the United States, and of Los Angeles, in thecount-ysof Los Angeles a resident and Stateof California, haveinvented a new and Improved Excavator-Shield, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact de scription. i. J

This invention relates to trenchingor excavating machinery and has particular reference to means for temporarily preventing the caving in of the walls of a trench or'excavation and-is used in connection with or drawn or propelled behind any usual or approved type of trenching machine or excavator.

Among the objects therefore, of the in= vention is to provide a device of the charac ter indicated which is adapted either to be attached to and drawn by atrenching machine or excavator, or to be moved wholly or in part by means of power applied to it in any suitable manner from an external source, such device being of a width and height corresponding substantially to the width and depth of the trench, and the device furthermore to be so arranged as to facilitate the introduction of the fixed supports for the trench walls.

One of the principal purposes of this invention is to produce a device for protecting the banks of a trench between the cutting portion of the machine and said fixed supports which are to be placed in the trench,

temporarily for supporting the Walls of the trench until the tiling, pipes, or other deplaced therein, are put into posication in which like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views, and in wh1ch e Figure 1 is a side elevation of a preferred embodiment of the invention, adapted to a common form of trenching machine; Fig. 2 is a plan View of the same; and Fig. 3 is a rear elevation.

The several parts of this device may be made of any suitable materials, and the relative sizes and proportions, as well'as departing from the cally claimed.

is illustrated in I p c t of Letters Patent. Patented ring. 1c, 1915. Application filed January 5,1914. seria1 v s1as921 the. general design of the mechanism, may

be varied to a considerable extent without spir t of the invention hereinafter more to .A device made in accordance with this invention comprises; a pair ofside plates 10, preferably Jofmetal, and maintained at defily set forth and 'specifinite parallel spaced relation to each other 7 by means of a suitable framework to which they are attached. Theframewor k consists of struts l1, connected to side members 12 and 13. The framework is constructedprefer'ably of structural: strength to prevent the side plates being forced inward by thepressure of the side walls of the excavation. It will be under stood that the front edges of the plates 10 will be varied as to shape or inclination to suit the type of machine to which the shield is attached or behind which it may be 0perated'. In other words, said front edges may be vertical, curved or inclined in conformity to the form or type of the cutting devices for making the trench. The rear portions of the plates 10 project some dis tance back of the rear edges of the support ing frame 13, thus providing a means whereby the .fixedi piling or supports may be placed against the inner side of the plates.

Any-suitable means in the nature of draft devices 15 may be connected to the shield to serve as means for attachment thereof to the trenching machine or otherwise and whereby theshield is drawn along the trench in the rear of such machine. The side plates 10 are substantially smooth on their outer surfaces where they operate close to the vertical side walls of the trench and they serve to prevent the inundation of such walls until a .fixed support may be provided therefor.

Such fixed support may take the form of planking 16 driven vertically downward into the bottom of side walls thereof, or any other suitable form of pilingvfor temporarily holding the trench walls from premature collapsing or caving in. The rearwardly extending wings 17 of the side plates 10 or those portions ofsuch plates back of the rear edge of the frame 13 constitute definite guides for the planking or sheeting while it is being put into place following the operation of the excavating machine and the shield.

metal and of sufficient the trench and against the Patent 1. In a device of the character set forth, the combination of spaced parallel side plates connected to a framework and including'uprights adjacent but spaced from the rear edges of the plates and serving to strengthen the side plates and maintain them in desired position with relation to each other, the rear edge portions of the plates beyond said uprights providing with said uprights guiding and supporting means for planking or sheeting,and draft connections for the side plates as set forth;

2. The herein described trenching excavator shield comprising a pair of parallel spaced side plates having smooth outer surfaces and front edges conforming to the form or position of trenching machine in the rear of which the shield is operating, angle members connected to said side plates I adjacent to but spaced from the rear edges thereof and serving as stiffeners therefor and also as guides for fixed supports, and a plurality of cross pieces or strutsjextending from one plate to the other and serving to maintain them in desired position with relation to each other. I

3. In a'device of the character set forth, the combination of a pair of spaced parallel side plates, angle members connected, to the inner surfaces of said plates and serving to strengthen the same, angle member cross pieces extending from one plate to the other and connected at their ends to said stiffening members, a portion of said plate members beingarranged vertically and slightly spaced from the rear ends of the plates pro viding with said rear ends guiding means for planking, and draft connections for the shield, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

I DANIEL IV. MUIQPHY.

l/Vitnesses:

' C. E. Home,

JAs. M. GAYLORD.

flopics of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. C. 

